Workers on Sunday attempted to limit the spread of an oil spill from an ExxonMobil pipeline in Montana's Yellowstone River.

UPDATE: Exxon Mobil came under fire on Wednesday from Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who said the oil giant had assured Montana that any spill on the Yellowstone River could be shut off in a few minutes.

Documents detail Exxon’s Yellowstone response

By Matthew Brown / Macon.com / July 6, 2011

LAUREL, Mont. — Federal documents show it took Exxon Mobil nearly twice as long as it publicly disclosed to fully seal a pipeline that spilled roughly 1,000 barrels of crude oil into the Yellowstone River.

Details about the company’s response to the Montana pipeline burst emerged late Tuesday as the Department of Transportation ordered the company bury the duct deeper beneath the riverbed, where it is buried 5 to 8 feet underground to deliver 40,000 barrels of oil a day to a refinery in Billings.

The federal agency’s records indicate the pipeline was not fully shut down for 56 minutes after the break occurred Friday near Laurel. That’s longer than the 30 minutes that company officials claimed Tuesday in a briefing with federal officials and Gov. Brian Schweitzer.

An Exxon Mobil spokesman said the longer time span was based on information provided to the agency by the company and the discrepancy might have come about because Exxon Mobil Pipeline Co. President Gary Pruessing was speaking without any notes in front of him when he addressed Schweitzer.

“Clearly our communication with the regulator (DOT) is the one that we’ve got precision on,” spokesman Alan Jeffers said.

It was not the first time the company offered clarification of its response and assessment of the spill. A day earlier, the company acknowledged under political pressure that the leak’s impact could extend far beyond a 10-mile stretch of the river it initially said was the most affected area. The company had earlier downplayed government officials’ assertions that damage was spread over dozens of miles.

The governor toured the area Tuesday as the waterway rose above flood stage and stoked fears that surging currents could push crude into undamaged areas and back channels vital to the river’s prized fishery. Conditions have hampered efforts to find the cause of the break.

The river has been flowing too swiftly for crews to reach some oiled areas, and forecasters said mountain snowmelt was adding to high water levels. Officials speculated that the surge may push oil into areas that haven’t yet been damaged.

Most observations have been made through aerial flights.

A few miles downriver from the broken pipe, homeowner Robert Castleberry said he had been out of his house since Saturday because of dangerous fumes from oil that the river pushed across his yard and into the crawlspace beneath his house.

Castleberry’s wife suffers from heart disease and the fumes gave her difficulty breathing, he said. While he appreciated the company promising to cover the couple’s immediate expenses, the retired fuel truck driver was doubtful workers would be able to clean up the black, gooey film that laced through the underbrush along the river.

“Exxon’s been nothing but 100 percent with us,” he said. “But when you get into brush that thick, that’s going to be virtually impossible to clean.”

Company and federal officials said they have only seen oil about 25 miles downstream from the site of the break near Laurel. But Schweitzer said he believes some has traveled hundreds of miles to North Dakota.

“At seven miles per hour, some oil is already in North Dakota. That’s a given,” Schweitzer said. “I’m asking everyone to get out there and report what you see on the river.”

Representatives of Exxon Mobil and the Environmental Protection Agency said they had no reports of oil beyond the town of Huntley.

Transportation officials said Tuesday that oil was observed as far downstream as 240 miles in Terry, Mont. The agency said that information was provided by Exxon Mobil, but company spokesman Alan Jeffers said he was not aware of any such sighting.

Exxon planned to test the river’s conditions with a jet boat, with eight more on standby if the launch is successful, Glass said.

Federal regulators have ordered Exxon to make safety improvements to the 20-year-old pipeline. Among them was an order to re-bury the line to protect against external damage and assess risk where it crosses a waterway, which the company intended to comply with, Jeffers said.

“We will follow their requirements,” he said.

The company also will have to submit a restart plan to the Department of Transportation before crude can again flow through the line.

Schweitzer also ordered a review of pipelines that cross major and minor rivers in the state. Officials will look at the pipes’ age, location of shut-off valves and whether they are similar to the ruptured pipe. He said the state has 88 such crossings.

Modern pipelines can be buried as much as 25 feet beneath bodies of water; Exxon Mobil’s Silvertip line was 5 to 8 feet below the bottom of the Yellowstone.

The line was temporarily shut down in May after Laurel officials raised concerns that it could be at risk as the Yellowstone started to rise. The company restarted the line after a day, following a review of its safety record.

Schweitzer said he noticed that oil was pooling in areas near banks with slower-moving water, close to islands and cottonwood stands that support the microbes and insects that bring life to the river.

“Those riparian areas are a biological treasure trove. That’s the health and wealth of the river,” he said.

Montana Governor tours spill area, issues emergency decree

Gov. Brian Schweitzer says his state of Montana is staying on top of ExxonMobil’s cleanup of its oil spill in the Yellowstone River and deciding when it’s finished. And the oil giant will pay for it, too.

“We Montanans take our wildlife and our rivers very serious,” he said in an interview Tuesday. “I can tell you right now, I am gonna stay on this like smell on a skunk until it’s cleaned up.”

Tweaking a phrase from Ronald Reagan, he said he would “verify and verify” ExxonMobil’s performance.

“The state of Montana’s interests are not completely aligned with ExxonMobil’s interests,” he added. “Our interests are restoring the Yellowstone to its original pristine self.”

And by the way, Exxon — he’s sending you the bill.

Schweitzer said Sherman Glass, Exxon’s president of refining and supply, assured him Tuesday that the company would be financially responsible for cleaning the spill and restoring the river and its marshes to their original condition.

The Democratic governor, who has a master’s degree in soil science, said he’s concerned about the oily sheen that has been spreading over the wetlands, and about the effects of biomagnification as contaminants move their way up the food chain.

“I am absolutely sure that I am the only governor in America who is also a soil scientist,” Schweitzer said. He added: “There ain’t nobody gonna blow smoke up the south side of this north-facing governor.”

Over the weekend, Schweitzer had criticized comments by some ExxonMobil officials who said no damaged wildlife had been found as a result of the spill. (The Billings Gazette has published photos of soiled pelicans and turtles.)

“For somebody to say at this early stage that there’s no damage to wildlife, that’s pretty silly,” Schweitzer told The Associated Press on Saturday. “The Yellowstone River is important to us. We’ve got to have a physical inspection of that river in small boats — and soon.”

ExxonMobil and federal officials also said they had seen oil only about 25 miles downstream from the site of the pipeline break. But Schweitzer said he believes it has traveled hundreds of miles to North Dakota, according to Reuters.

“At 7 miles per hour, some oil is already in North Dakota. That’s a given,” Schweitzer said. “I’m asking everyone to get out there and report what you see on the river.”

Gary Pruessing, president of ExxonMobil Pipeline Co., told reporters Tuesday afternoon the company is sticking with the 25-mile estimate.

“We haven’t confirmed any soiled areas beyond 25 miles,” he said. “I’m not suggesting that’s the limit of the area, but we haven’t confirmed any beyond the 25-mile mark.”

Preussing also wouldn’t commit to any cost estimate to clean up the oil.

“There are no numbers or estimates on what it might cost,” he said. “That’s not our primary focus. [Our focus is to] make sure we find where the oil is and I want to reiterate that we’re going to be here until the job is done. It’s not about the cost or the numbers.”

ExxonMobil has roughly 200 workers walking the shoreline daily to identify additional contaminated areas and place absorbent booms and pads. Crews fly over the contaminated area to provide information on where efforts need to be concentrated for the following day.

“We are committed to being here and to responding to this event,” he said. “We are going to be here until the cleanup is completed.”

There is no word yet on how long the pipeline will remain shut, Preussing said. Nearby refineries, such as the plant in Billings, have been cut down to minimal capacity because the burst line is the primary source for the refinery.

Meanwhile, Schweitzer said he continues to support TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would pass underneath the Yellowstone River while carrying tar-sands crude oil from Alberta to Texas.

“Modern pipeline technology does not lay pipeline in the bed of a river,” he said, adding the Keystone project is needed.

“Montana is an energy state,” he said. “And we can’t use it all here.”

i agree with sunshine and christine,shut exxon down……. go ahead, i always wonderd what 12 dollar a gallon gas would be like! or we could just keep buying foriegn oil………. you know in support of terrorist, yeah……………. this is a great plan.

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